This article presents an epistemological and historical view of the physical, cognitivist and emergent approaches in the field of Information Science, adopting Wersig's concept of approach, instead of the concept of paradigm. It shows the polarizations occurring among the diverse conceptualizations in Information Science, and it illustrates how practical problems were solved in the field. It also indicates how research subjects were developed, grounded on adopted models and transdisciplinary connections made by the different kinds of approaches, including the domain analysis and the situated cognition. The article concludes pointing out to the need for integrating the various approaches and translating instrumental concepts and/or laying their foundations. The conclusion also indicates the need for methodological diversification and for a pragmatic view, which should focus at the ordinary problems and adopt solutions in the field that would take into account the social, historical, and epistemological dimensions of the diverse domains.
Information Science; physical approaches; cognitivist approaches; domain analysis; situated cognition; paradigm